biotech
Former Novo Nordisk employees on falling behind in the obesity drug race
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Molly Ferguson for STAT
When Novo Nordisk launched its new weight loss medication Wegovy in 2021, it took an early lead in the race to dominate what quickly became a booming market for obesity medications. But now, the company is widely seen as trailing competitor Eli Lilly. Novo's stock has tumbled over 50% since its peak around a year ago, it just ousted its CEO, and there's been an exodus of other top leaders from its Copenhagen headquarters.
So what happened? STAT's Elaine Chen spoke with former Novo employees who have some theories, which all come down to an overly conservative approach to obesity drugs. "The open discussions in general about anti-obesity meds was — we needed to be cautious at that time and that adverse events would weigh heavier at the early stages of these types of programs," one former employee said. Read more about what went wrong, according to the folks that were there.
science
These psych meds come with a higher risk of ALS, study says
Prescribed use of common psychiatric medications comes with a higher risk of later developing the devastating neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. Specifically, the use of anti-anxiety meds, antidepressants, or hypnotics/sedatives was associated with a 34%, 26%, and 21% higher risk of ALS respectively. Using these drugs before diagnosis was also linked with poor survival afterward.
Researchers analyzed data from all patients diagnosed with ALS in Sweden between 2015 and 2023. That constituted more than 1,000 people, each of whom was age- and sex-matched with up to five people from the general population, as well as their siblings and spouses.
The results shouldn't be seen as cause to quit your meds. For people who used medication within a year before their ALS diagnosis, the link could reflect reverse causation, the authors wrote, as the disease can come with psychiatric symptoms. And even for people who used these meds more than five years before their diagnosis, the psych conditions could be initial symptoms. More research is needed.
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